He came to Dens Park as a total unknown. But Fabian Caballero has quickly shown he has the talent and ambition to reach the game's highest level. Yet, says Natasha Woods, Dundee may only gain a fleeting glimpse of his ability

Publication Date: Sep 3 2000

THERE are two language classes at Dens Park. One is for advanced learners and one for "the others". Fabian Caballero attends the latter.

Dario Magri, Dundee's football co-ordinator, reckons the Argentinian should have a decent grasp of English by the end of the season. Of course, by then he could be on his way. For a talent like his doesn't need any translation. Arsene Wenger told the young striker as much even as he was letting him go.

The manager of Arsenal was impressed with what he had seen in a handful of appearances, but he needed proven talent not potential at Highbury. So in came Kanu and Thierry Henry and away went the unknown back to South America.

It is over a year since Caballero left London. The experience didn't scar him. Instead he shrugged off the disappointment with the knowledge that another opportunity would come along again.

He went back to Paraguay and notched 13 goals in the first 17 matches for Sol de America. Midway through the Paraguayan season, the Italian manager of a Scottish club offered him a passport back to Europe.

Ivano Bonetti never had any doubts about the 22-year-old's ability. Before a ball had been kicked, the Dundee manager expressed amazement that nobody in Scotland had heard of his new signing.

Five goals in four starts has ensured that knowledge deficit has now been addressed. Bonetti, confident in his own judgment, maintains that his prolific striker is good enough for Serie A.

Caballero is on a one-year deal at Dens. Already the expectation seems to be that his sojourn on Tayside will be brief.

The player himself doesn't alter that perception. Playing in Europe had been on his mind for a long time and "now Dundee have given me this opportunity I don't want to let it go". "Every day I learn more things in training and then try to put them into practice. First I must do well in this small team I am in. Then I will look for a bigger team and I must do well there too."

The translation maybe unfortunate, for there is no cockiness in his character. Those at Dens who have got to know the man from the mountainous northern region of Misiones say he is both quiet and humble. Magri, who first met Caballero when he was a teenager on trial at Crystal Palace, describes him as level- headed and completely focused on his football. "That is why, when I think of it, he has all the features to be a champion," he said.

Yet Caballero's talents went unnoticed in his own country, a fact as much to do with geography as his late blossoming as a footballer.

In the eighth largest country in the world, the scouts congregate around the greatest centres of population. Where he grew up, in the far north near the Paraguayan border, they seldom venture.

So it was a Paraguayan scout who first spotted him and gave him his first chance at professional football. That was only three years ago.

Until then, Caballero's goalscoring talents were honed in the amateur game in Misiones. That he has fitted so seamlessly into the Scottish games owes much to the bruising few seasons he spent in Paraguay.

"There the defenders are not just tough, they are nasty. You have to cope with a very hard way of playing. Also we play on surfaces which are poor. So you have to develop skills while under physical pressure and in bad conditions," he said.

"To now move to a country where the pitches are beautiful, but the game is tough has been a change for the better for me. I haven't needed any time to settle in."

It must have helped, too, that his strike partner is Juan Sara, a fellow Argentinian. Caballero, whose grasp of English extends to a few pleasantries, accepts that, but then provides a hint of the single-minded focus which Magri hinted at.

"It is a great help to have somebody who speaks the same language, because it is easier to communicate on the pitch. But if I had another player alongside me, it would make no difference because to be successful at my job I have to score no matter who plays alongside me." Given the rumours on Tayside that Francisco Luna, who enjoyed a successful if brief spell at the club last season, is hankering for a move back to Dundee after a summer playing in Mexico, Caballero may be wise to highlight his willingness to work alongside a different partner.

Certainly the restructuring process at Dens is continuing at pace, for Bonetti made it seven signings in little over two months last week when 30-year-old Alessandro Romano, a former Lazio midfielder, agreed a one-year deal.

The aim of such a recruitment process is to produce a squad capable of finishing in the top of the six of the SPL. But Caballero believes a higher target is achievable. "We have the quality to fight with the top teams in this league. We have the potential to qualify for Europe, although we still need some more time for the team to gel together. But this new side has already shown in a few games that we have real quality."

The immediate target is progression in the CIS Cup. Dundee travel to Love Street on Tuesday night to face a St Mirren side who have already beaten them in the league. Paisley or Paraguay, it seems to make no difference to the young Argentinian. He insists he is enjoying his football and his new life in Dundee. His admiration for Ivano and Dario Bonetti is both endearing and genuine.

"When I arrived here I found two men who were not just great coaches, they were also good at spurring me on. And the manager, when he is playing, is also skilful. On the pitch that is very encouraging." When Caballero was growing up, he dreamed of being a professional footballer. Now he says he is living that dream.

He idolised Diego Maradona and we talk about the legendary player and the "hand of God". Maradona once described that infamous goal against England as an example of "Viveza". The concept has no literal translation, but Maradona explained it meant craftiness, in a positive connotation far removed from the British sense of fair play. Caballero, perhaps conscious of the spotlight that has fallen on the on-field behaviour of Dundee's foreign contingent, volunteered a slightly alternate interpretation. "Viveza means to be alive, to be alive to opportunities. To be alert." His move to Dundee has offered him just such an opportunity and he has given every indication he intends to seize the chance. Dundee supporters should enjoy it while it lasts.